In all, ten MAST units were deployed in various areas surrounding the brand new, state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

With over one million fans expected to focus on the Super Bowl and the ten-day Fan Festival, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) was keen to complement the existing CCTV networks around the ground as well as mass transit point footfall areas, such as bus and rail stations.

Stuart Bostock, executive group president at Security Centres International, explained: “Featuring world-class HD surveillance imaging, leading-edge design, robustness, zero infrastructure requirements and seamless VMS integration, MAST is the only product of its kind that would readily integrate into the existing CCTV infrastructure. Additionally, MAST benefits from a significantly smaller footprint than similar trailer-based, stand-alone surveillance systems.”

Bostock went on to comment: “MAST has been developed to answer the need for a more sophisticated and flexible surveillance system for infrastructure and public space safety, including large crowd gatherings. MAST combines a rapidly deployable unit with some of the most advanced safety and surveillance technology available. This is why we selected 360 Vision Technology’s Invictus camera for its core imaging technology.”

Mark Rees, managing director of 360 Vision Technology, added: “360 Vision Technology’s Invictus is a high-performance, ruggedised all-in-one PTZ camera with Full 1080P HD and ultra low-light camera technology, making it the perfect choice for off-grid temporary/rapid deployment mobile surveillance rigs such as MAST. Additionally, Invictus’ low power consumption greatly assists the longevity of critical battery power when deployed in the field, extending MAST’s operational performance for deployment in more remote applications.”

The use of the MAST units integrated to the existing fixed camera points during Super Bowl LIII week proved a huge success with HD images transmitted to the MARTA Emergency Operations Centre via a mobile network. Thanks to the high quality of the images received, system operators were able to identify and tackle a number of incidents, including a vehicle theft.

Additionally, the images were also used to predict areas of dense footfall, tackle crowd control safety issues and manage general Health and Safety concerns.

The deployment of the Invictus-based camera system at Super Bowl LIII proved such a success that plans are already in place for deployment at other large-scale US sporting events (including the NCAA Final Four Basketball Championship in 2020) and also for city centre deployment across Atlanta.